Watching the clock...

I'm waiting for time to head to the theater to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

Well, I still need to make supper. Just for me, tonight, though, since Gran is at my older brother's house, and Paul and Ian are hanging out with Paul's half-brother, Chris.

I'm getting caught up on a few online tasks before I change. I'm not taking a robe or a wand, just wearing this t-shirt -



- and possibly the cap that goes with it.

I used Fandango to try to get 11:59 PM tickets for tonight, but they goofed, and so I goofed. Now I have 11:59 PM tickets for the regular showing. Since IMAX's showing at that time is now sold out, I'll be changing the tickets for the 3:00 AM showing. The IMAX tickets cost a little more, but I know it will be worth it.

Some critics have said the yelling and angst in OotP are a little over the top, but I say you just can't expect to get everything in a movie that you do in a book. Make no mistake, I love movies. It's just that they and books are apples and oranges.

I am terrible about watching the Harry Potter movies and saying, "But in the book, this happened..." or "But they left this out! And it's important!" I recently made myself watch the earlier movies on DVD again, trying to free myself of expectations. They are still far and away better than most fanfics I've read! They are abbreviated versions of the books, with illustrations. Moving illustrations, like the paintings and photographs in the wizarding world. Yes, a few things annoy me, and a few things amuse me, about changes that are made. I am still saddened by Richard Harris' passing, because he will always be my Dumbledore. My Dumbledore is gentle, even though he is a force to be reckoned with. My Dumbledore would never shake Harry or any other student to get the truth. Dumbledore does not resort to violence to learn facts. He is the epitome of wisdom.

Hermione is brilliant, but earnest, not snug. Ron doesn't realize that he is smart. He has a wealth of knowledge about the wizarding world. He's just been in the shadow of five uniquely resourceful brothers all his life. And Harry? He is no slouch. Almost everything we know comes through him. He is our eyes, our mind, and our heart.

Sorry. I'm getting too caught up in this again. I can't help it. I so love a good story.

The time is drawing near....

Ah, yes, my dears, do gaze with me into the crystal orb -- or your monitor, if you don't have one.

Less than a month remains before the opening of "Order of the Phoenix," and then mere days until the last Harry Potter Book Party/release (**sniff**) for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

I've just finished reading this book from Mugglenet, which raises questions more than answering them -- as is their intention.
http://www.mugglenet.com/app/news/show/412
http://www.alivans.com/custom/cart/edit.asp?p=96324

Actually, I got my copy through Amazon, but it's also at Barnes & Noble and other bookstores.

I recently reread all the previous six books in the series, balking again in HBP in the Cave chapter. Things are just so very great between Harry and Dumbledore by this time, you hate to move on. But you have to. So even as you read what follows, and you pay tribute within your heart, your heart is breaking with the grief individual characters are feeling. I had flashbacks to Aslan in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, but that was C.S. Lewis's take on the magical world. There is no coming back in J.K. Rowling's world.

Anyway, I was in mourning when I finished. Knowing only bad things can come to some of my beloved characters, at least until the Horcruxes have been destroyed and Voldemort made mortal once more, I was feeling bereft. I know my heart will be broken again the weekend of July 21, 2007, while I read book 7.

I'm asking off work that weekend, because I know the people I work with just won't get it. Several of them really like the Harry Potter movies and books, but I'd beat them in a Harry Potter trivia contest like Hermione could beat Crabbe and Goyle at ... just about anything requiring a brain.

Do I think Harry will die? No, I don't. But I think he will be *willing* to die for his cause.

Probably, as much as anything else, I will be mourning the end of the series. I know it can't be like M*A*S*H, and run for years and years, but I can't stand the idea that it _will_ be_ over.
It's like finding out Jane Austen wrote *only* six books, and that the only sequels to "Pride and Prejudice" have been written by other Janites.

To console myself, I browsed through my copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them -
http://tinyurl.com/3782rr

The notes in the margins of Harry's textbook, alone, could make you laugh. The descriptions of various magical creatures, many of which we've met briefly in the series, are interesting and delightful. Based on what I have discovered there, I will make the assertion that Crookshanks isn't an ordinary cat, but at least partly Kneazle. The Kneazle is a cat-like creature, which can interbreed with cats, but has its own interesting powers. Included is the uncanny ability to detect "unsavoury or suspicious characters" (can you say, "Here, Scabbers"?), as well as the ability to guide its owner home safely if he or she becomes lost. (Will Crookshanks be instrumental in guiding our Trio in book 7?)

Then I reread the four chapters of the fanfic I started years ago, before I read HBP. That story took quite a different turn from book 6. But I think I'll be working on it again, anyway, because it's fun, and it's going to be therapeutic.

Even as Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth are still dancing and talking in my imagination, and Hawkeye and BJ are still sitting around the Swamp, so will these young wizards and witches always reside within my heart.

When I close book 7 next month, I won't be saying "nox," but "mischief managed."


Lorilei
*I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.*